Arrival
by ExcitingCheese Writer's League
Summary: So often are we guided by our compassion, our love, our emotions... the bonds that pull us down paths not bargained. And when you find yourself alone, as HE casts out that bedeviling gaze... how far... will it carry you?
1. Prologue

**Table of Contents**

001: Prologue

002: The Pages

003: Into the Abyss

004: Flashback

005: Genesis

* * *

 _Dedicated to my best friend Samuel,_

 _Who inspired my pen at work_

* * *

The Arrival

001: PROLOGUE

The shadows cast by the sun in an overcast sky flicker across the shiny, metallic surface of the Hummer as I drive down Interstate 35 in rush-hour traffic. Rush hour traffic isn't that bad in Texas: like, no one lives there. The thoughts that pass through my mind in rush hour.

Six in the afternoon, everyone on the road sprinting away, or sprinting towards me, wasting some more gasoline. I take the exit to the rest area, breaking free of the traffic. I finally hit open roads after the rush hour, taking the road to Llano. However, instead of finishing the trek to Llano, I turn off on the private road leading to the old park: typically, the only people on the road are the residents and the big mining trucks holding loads of raw ore fresh from the ground. But I don't care about the cars on the road.

The most important rules to me are the driving rules. Two o'clock and ten, ignoring just about every text sent my way, never a fraction of a mile over the speed limit. Never been in a car accident in my life. Typically, my thirteen-year-old stepson Jaden would manage my texts and phone calls. This time, though, he isn't in the car with me.

Jaden is the most important thing in the world to me: him and my husband, Liam. I got the two of them three years ago, which was three years after I divorced my first husband. He was ten, then, and had the cutest eyes: he still has the same eyes. Today he looked at me with those eyes: "Lauren, why aren't you taking me to see Kate?" To that I responded, "The letters she's sending are unsettling. I'm afraid the place I'm going won't be safe."

Now I guess I have to talk about Kate: Kate is a childhood friend of mine. We were best friends in kindergarten, and the first and second grades. We had a falling out in early third grade over her new friend: a boy named CR. I never liked him, and she had a crush on him, and you can see how that went. Later in life, we got back together. We aren't nearly as close as we once were, but you know.

Kate lives in an old State Park which was opened to public purchases when I was still an infant. The place is mostly occupied by farmers and hermits who just want to live away from civilization. There are a couple little villages (basically gated communities with no gates), and there is also a mining company who set up shop in the mountains near the woods. Kate is one of the rural dwellers. She teaches online classes from a crappy computer and the worst WiFi in the country. Lately, however, she's been trying to sell her house, to no avail.

Lately, an alarming development has taken place: about a month ago, Kate began sending disturbing letters written in the form of poetry. At the beginning, they were neat, orderly, and intelligible, like Kate always was. As the month went on, however, the letters started to devolve. Eventually, it changed into scribbled drawings of trees, children, and tall men, mixed with scattered print saying things like 'HELP ME' and 'KILL ME' and 'DON'T LET HIM IN!" Eventually, I decided I would just go out there and see what I can do.

The sky is starting to clear, revealing the Texas sun. It bathes the land in beautiful light that flickers softly off metallic surfaces, or takes a mean streak and glares off in violently bright tones. I keep my eyes on the road, despite the fact that the sun is setting right in front of me and hurting my eyes.

Finally, I arrive at Kate's driveway: it is a dirt road leading up to her house. I had a plan to drive my car up to Kate's house, but nope! Fallen tree!

I sigh, open the car door, and step out into the crisp, autumn air. The trees nearest to me are maples, with a variety of hues including vibrant yellow, russet, and dusky orange. The setting sun slices through the leaves to make dappled patterns on the ground that slowly, ever so slowly slide along as the shadows grow longer and the sun dips behind the distant mountains. I open the door to the backseat and pull out the gopro I had brought with me: no shame having recordings in case some sort of crime thing is going on up here. I attach it to my forehead, climb over the log, and start walking up the dirt driveway.

The surroundings are dimming at an alarming pace around me as the sky starts to darken. The path takes an upward turn, winding through the woods to the small house on the plateau. The house in question is just within my line of sight, the shadow it casts slowly fades away, just as the light that creates it does. The sky is becoming more and more overcast, and finally I reach the front gate.

I walk towards the door, knocking. I expect to hear Kate come down the stairs, or rise from her favorite rocker in the living room, or one of her little cousins who come to stay with her running to the door in a ruckus, accompanied by Kate's voice telling them to quit there antics… soon enough, the expectancy fades to probability, then to hope, then to a wish. I tried the door: unlocked. Unusual.

I stepped in, to find the house in a state of anarchy, quite unlike Kate's usual autocratic rule over her furniture. The aforementioned furniture was arranged in an awkward manner about the place, and the floor was littered in all sorts of junk. No lights were on. Totally dark.

And that isn't the worst part. Scrawled on the white wall is a drawing of black pine trees, with a picture of a tallish man standing in front of them. HELP ME is scrawled underneath.

I decide to go find Kate, if she is here. I walk into the living room, cautiously, worriedly. It's quite dark: all the windows are shut. Kate usually leaves them open. I can't see much in the way of details: I don't have any light. I walk through the living room, stumbling over various pieces of crap. I reach the kitchen, finally. A flashlight lies on the table: I pick it up and turn it on.

The kitchen is slightly more orderly than the living room. There is a house phone (excellent, perhaps I can call someone) and a note:

(Please refer to the note found in Kate's living room. Just do it)

CR is involved? That isn't reassuring. I set the note down and walk to the phone: the line is dead. D*nmit. I go back to the living room.

The living room is cluttered, of course, with junk. On the wall is a whiteboard with some sort of checklist:

 _Flashlight,_

 _Kerosene,_

 _Rations,_

 _LOCK THE HOUSE!_

Interesting. I walk upstairs. The floorboards creak under my feet as I ascend, flashlight in my hand.

Flashing it around the house reveals the familiar second story of Kate's humble abode. I decide to check out the upstairs room by room. Through one room, nothing occured. Second room, nothing. Third room. Third room was something.

The door creaks open to reveal Kate's bedroom. But it isn't anything like her old bedroom. The walls are covered in pages of notebook paper with drawings of trees and men scribbled everywhere. Graffiti words are sloppily written on the wall, including one in red saying CAN YOU SEE IT? The window is smashed open.

I look out the window.

The dark outline of a tall, gangly, slender man is silhouetted against the backdrop of a cloudy night sky. The form is punctuated by the long shadow cast down from the hill he's standing on. It rolls down, just to the gate, and just as I catch him within my line of sight, my gopro glitches and he disappears. Suddenly, a scream from downstairs interrupts my watching.

I turn quickly, yelling "Kate!" as I dash down the stairs. However, as I run down, my gopro starts being overcome by static. I stop running, and hear another scream before turning and running back up. Another scream again: louder and more afraid then the last. _What's happening?_

I run to the bedroom window, and leap out, feet first. I remember my old instructions from karate class, and I tuck in my legs and roll to absorb the impact. I run to the door, which is locked. I use the key: it doesn't work. I turn to run to the other side of the house, and as I do so, my gopro starts to glitch again.

I turn and head the other way, dashing over to an old playhouse and ducking under it.

In a prone position, I see a pair of legs run past, off into the night. Barely able to contain a yell of fear, my heart thumping against my chest so loudly that the body that belonged to the pair of legs would surely hear, and then it would turn 'round and reach in to drag me out into the open…

I lie there for several minutes, until I realize that whatever-it-was must be gone. I drag myself out into the open, get up, and tentatively creep around the house again, to the place where my gopro glitched.

Nothing.

I sit down on the ground, having a mental debate with myself: leave… or find Kate? Leaving is my best chance of survival, but if I live, I will never know what happened to Kate. If I stay, I could find Kate, who was once my best friend. I decide to stay and look for her in the woods.

I get up and walk through the gate, out onto the path I had approached the house on. I noticed a piece of paper nailed to a tree: _CHARLIE MATHESON: MISSING._ The paper also shows a picture of a young boy, about eight years old. Better keep an eye out. This is sketchy.

I decide that I should find CR. I have a rough past with him, but he loves Kate just as much as me: maybe even more so. Plus, if anyone here knows what's happening, it'll be CR. He was always thinking.

CR's house isn't far from Kate's. To find it, I'll have to stray off the beaten path, at least a little bit. He's closer to the mountain range and farther from my car. Regrettable.

The dark path is hard to navigate: I decide to light some generators. Kate had four on the path, which would activate some minor floodlights. I find the first generator quite easily: when I activate it, however, I notice that tall, thin creature standing on the nearby hilltop. Once again, as soon as I catch a glimpse of him, he disappears and my gopro flickers a bit.

I walk along, not less than a little perturbed, and light the second generator after a little while. I find a newspaper clipping sitting next to it, and I look at the headline: _Matheson Farm Arson._ Matheson Farm. Charlie Matheson. Something weird is going on here (well duh).

Third generator: this time, He isn't standing on the hill. He's standing on the path about twenty meters in front of me. Icy chills race down my arms, and goosebumps race back up. I aim the flashlight directly away from him as my camera begins to act up. As I back further away, my camera recedes to a state of normality.

He isn't moving. I stand there, staring at his silhouette, my flashlight resolutely pointed in the opposite direction. After several minutes, my state of fear begins to change to annoyance.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to move out of the way," I say loudly. He didn't move. After a few minutes, he teleports off the path to who-knows-where.

I walk down the path and light the final generator. I see the place where I am supposed to step off this main road and follow a little rink-a-dink dirt path off through the forest. I steal my nerves and step off the path into the dark forest.

As I walk along the path with my terrible flashlight in hand, I notice the burnt remains of an old farmhouse. There is a sign that says Matheson Family Farm. I walk towards it.

I don't know what led me to walk towards it, but I do. In fact, I walk _inside_ the burnt up barn. The barn is quite cluttered with debris and filled with a horrible sound: the sound of a young child crying.

I pick my way through the clutter to see a ghastly figure: a smallish, humanoid figure with long, straw-like, black hair, wearing only a loincloth. His flesh is rotting. His skin is green. He's also the source of the crying.

"D*mn," I say aloud to no one in particular. At the sound of my voice, whatever the creature is turns with a fury, launching himself at me violently. I scream, kicking out, my foot sinking into someone's stomach… and then he's gone.

I stumble out of the barn, muttering profanities under my breath as I stumble towards a large showerhouse connected to a farmhouse. As I walk through, I notice words written in black all over the wall. I WANT TO DIE! KILL ME! DON'T LET HIM GET ME!

But the one that stands out to me is this:

GET CR! HE KNOWS HOW TO END IT!

I need to find CR. I need to find Kate. I need to figure out what the h*ll is going on here. And that's when I realize it. That creature must be Charlie.


	2. The Eight Pages

Dawn is coming. The sky is getting lighter, and has faded to a bluish-purple. Indigo. That is the perfect word.

I look around with my flashlight: before I picked up the book, it was midnight. How long did I spend gazing at the pages? The place looks different in the morning light. I can see more. I walk past the door I came in through: it's closed. I never closed it.

I turn, and enter a locker room. That's where I see the page. It's a piece of notebook paper with a giant 8 scrawled on it. I look at it.

Somehow I know that if I take the page, something terrible will happen. I also know that taking the page is the only way to find Kate. I take the page.

As soon as I take it, the ink starts to blur on the page. The eight dissolves, and the color swirls, forming itself into a 7. I see. I need to find seven more pages.

As soon as I pocket the page, I hear something. A reverberating drumbeat. Then another, a few seconds later. Then another. Something is happening.

When I was younger, I visited Kate's mountain home, occasionally. On my final visit, Kate was different. CR was there. Kate said she'd seen something. She'd wandered in the woods, followed by something. She'd collected page after page after page until morning. I didn't believe her. CR did. I thought she'd had a nightmare. CR claimed that he'd seen the same thing.

CR was right.

I walked out of the structure, steering clear of the barn and heading off towards a park map. There is a page on the sign. I pick it up.

Since that last visit, Kate has improved. She came to both of my weddings. I went to hers. We were friends again, until a month ago. She disappeared from my radar. Then the letters came, and I knew that I needed to come up here.

Now, I'm probably going to die.

I follow the path at a light jog, then I arrive at a fork. There is a storage yard to my right, a water tower to my left. I go to the water tower, and grab the page that is nailed there.

My camera glitches once, twice, three times. I look around, and there He is. His face is white and featureless. He is standing, static is covering my camera. He is walking. I am running the opposite direction, towards the storage yard.

I don't know why I hated CR so much. Maybe it was his dark humor. Maybe it was how emotionless he could be. How he could lie so easily. So much easier than I could. Or maybe it was just because he was friends with Kate. I wanted Kate all to myself.

CR can end this. I need to find him.

I enter the storage yard, my camera _still_ glitching a bit. Crates are everywhere. I see a page nailed to a crate. I grab it, but He is in front of me. I turn and run again as a strange noise starts emanating from my camera. Slowly, it starts to subside.

My first husband was a terrible husband, though I didn't know for the years I knew him. He fathered my stepson, Jaden, and that makes our marriage worth it. My new husband is better.

I told him to come looking for me if I wasn't home by morning. Hopefully, he'll come.

I have made it to the creek, and overhanging it is a tree. Nailed to the tree is a page. I reach up, grabbing it, then immediately turn and run the opposite direction before He can ambush me.

Just the though of my husband and Jaden motivates me. I know that I need to find Kate, because if I don't, I will have failed her, I will have failed CR, I will have failed Jaden.

I will have failed myself.

The seventh page is at a boathouse, nailed to the door. As soon as I seize the page, He appears, and my camera is completely blotted out. I run. I run. I trip, and He is upon me. But I get back up. I keep running. I finally escape.

I don't know why I didn't turn back, then. I should've left with these pages. I should've known that there was no way to save Kate from the Demon. I should've went home, and went to sleep, and lived out the rest of my life.

But I didn't. And when I grabbed the Eighth Page, He was here too quickly for me to escape. I felt a swooping sensation in my stomach as I flew threw nothingness, hitting the ground somewhere else. I ran, but was moved again. I didn't think: I ran, I ran I ran. Soon, I hit the rocks, and fell.

I failed myself. Everything went black.


	3. Into the Abyss

003: INTO THE ABYSS

Awake.

I lay in the long, course grass, bruised and aching. My camera lies next to my head, still on. My flashlight is still in my hand, off.

I had fallen about fifteen feet, or so it seemed, down a steep cliffside and into the field of haygrass. How did I get here? I don't remember. All I remember is hitting the rocks. What rocks? I don't see any rocks.

I get up, pick up the camera, and look around. I'm in a sort of basin, full of small hills and haygrass. Occasionally, tall lumps of rock break out from the ground.

I recognize this basin, now. Kate and I would come here, together, to play. We would come down through the mine- Kate's father was a Mine Executive. He let us use an elevator to come down. That's my way out.

I start walking across the basin towards the mineshaft. On the way, I pass a few houses, one of which has a Missing Child poster. Once again, it's Charlie Matheson.

I turn another corner, to see the massive mineshaft. But it looks empty: where there were usually miners bustling about, trucks getting loaded and unloaded, and businessmen attempting to seal deals, there is nothing. The mineshaft is wide open.

I strike out towards it. Walking across course haygrass. I can feel it immediately when I start to walk on the cold concrete.

I descend into the abyss. The darkness is overpowering. My flashlight comes out, comes on. The beam of light cuts through the inky blackness, revealing the door that Kate and I always came through. I walk towards it, shining my flashlight around to avoid tripping.

 _GET TO THE TOWER_ is written in white ink on the wall. Everything is off. There is no power. And Kate was here. I can tell by her handwriting.

Kate knows something I don't. There's something at the tower that I need. Perhaps she's at the tower. Perhaps CR is at the tower. But which tower?

The radio tower. I remember the flashing red light I saw on my way to the park. I must need to reach the radio tower. Which means I need to climb the mountain. Which means going up is the right path.

I see a sign. It reads as follows:

 _In case of an emergency involving sudden and irreversible power outage,_

 _Please use the emergency lifts that are located throughout the mine. Activate the lifts with six emergency generators, which are each located somewhere in the mine. If you have trouble finding the lifts, contact an executive. They should be able to assist you._

So I need to find generators to activate an emergency elevator. Can't be that hard.

I set off in search of generators and easily find one in a large room directly down the hall. I activate it. The light on the generator turns green, and a clanking noise follows, signifying the generator powering up. It's only when the clanking ceases that I hear the familiar sound of consistent drum beats.

"Oh, God. Oh, my God," I mutter to myself. I know the noise from last night. He's here with me.

This time, I know there is a word in that drumbeat. I can't tell what word it is. I know that it's there.

I set off to search for more generators. I have to find them- quickly.

Neither my mother, nor my father, picked my name. They had decided that they wouldn't pick a name for me until I was one, and would instead address me as "Baby" until then. However, my nanny refused to comply, and started calling me Lauren. Soon enough, I wouldn't respond to anything other than "Lauren". So Lauren I became.

The second generator is in a room branching off the end of a long hallway. I step into the room, flicking on the generator. The clanking noise blots out the drumbeats for a moment. Then, I hear another noise. A vague, moaning, whimpering noise.

 _What the h*ll is that?_ I wonder. I proceed with caution.

Kate's marriage was to a man named Vincent Hawthorne. Her boyfriend before that was CR, but she fell into a financial slump. So, when the chance came, she didn't marry CR. She married Vincent for his money, for his financial security.

I like him better than CR.

The third generator is in a supply room. I walk towards it, but as I do, static starts to cover me camera. I see him standing in the corner, staring.

I dash towards the generator, flicking it on and fleeing. My camera is completely blacked out, now, and He is following me. Following me fast: and as he approaches, I hear whispering, crying, the yells of someone- everyone. Heart-wrenching cries of distress.

I don't know what it is, but I am faster than Him. Soon, the feeling of panic induced by those mysterious cries has faded. But, it is soon replaced by a new sense of panic.

The moaning again. I shine my flashlight about madly, trying to discover the source of the sound. As my light reveals objects turned into monsters by my imagination, I hear a pitter-patter of footsteps.

I am frozen. I cannot move. I am easy picking.

But the pitter-patter fades, and nothing comes out of it.

Kate married far too young. She was so desperate to escape financial troubles that she made her choice at a young, carefree age, when everyone should be able to pick up and cut down relationships without it permanently harming their lives. But Kate chose someone she didn't truly love at the age of eighteen.

Their marriage lasted one year.

I find the fourth generator in a room branching off a catwalk. I trigger it easily, now knowing what to do better than before. _Clank-clank-clank. Mooaan. Pitter-patter-pitter-patter._

This time, the pitter-patter isn't fading. It's getting louder and louder.

I run. Sprinting down corridors and taking side routes. Avoiding Him when I can. But the pitter-patter is after me, and it just keeps coming.

Eventually, I find myself in a position far enough away from the sound to turn and shine my light at it.

It's a human figure, wearing a pair of dirty jeans and a blood-soaked hoody. It's around my height, definitely female, barefoot, and looking down at the ground. I can't see it's face.

I focus my flashlight to get a better look. It stops running, cringing under the bright light and shrieking.

I stand for a moment, frozen. The thing is afraid of bright light.

I continue to search for generators.

It wasn't Kate who asked for a divorce. It was Vincent. Vincent had learned of her ongoing relationship with CR, and when he discovered it, he realized that Kate had never loved him. He left her nothing of his money. Kate was forced to sell her house and move into the house previously inhabited by her parents, the one she lived in when she was younger. The house I visited the night when I arrived.

The night when He stepped into my life.

I have to force my way through a jammed door to reach the fifth generator. This time, when I activate it, I not only hear the clanking and the moaning sound, but also the sound my camera makes when He is nearby.

They are both coming for me.

Rather than running, I slam the door shut, hoping no one can come in. Immediately, when I do that, I realize my mistake.

He is in the room with me. He is standing there, my camera is freaking out, and long, black tentacles are slithering towards me, emerging from his back.

I summon the strength that only a thirty-year-old mother jacked up on adrenaline can muster, and I bowl the door off it's hinges. I speed from the room, feeling all around me the tendrils of blackness that He has manifested. Reaching for me.

I know that I am faster than Him. But I worry about the other one, who, as it seems, is also following me.

I know what to do about the other, who I have decided to call the Chaser. I focus my flashlight, aiming it behind me as I run, and the telltale pitter-patter of feet stops.

Sometimes, I think that if Kate had married older, she would've learned to love Vincent, who actually wasn't a bad guy. Instead, she now spends all her boy time with CR, and while the two of them hold off on marriage, they are virtually inseparable.

Not a healthy relationship in my opinion.

The sixth generator, finally, is found. I turn it on, and immediately flee, racing towards the lift. Someone is chasing me. I focus my flashlight behind me again, but it has no effect.

 _Oh no._

I jump onto the lift, quickly slamming the Up button. As the lift ascends, I feel a hand grab me around the ankle and start pulling me off.

I yell as I fall to the ground, kicking out at whatever is grabbing me. It released, but then, I hear it climbing up.

The lift is high in altitude at this point. I stand to face the Chaser, and it lunges at me from a standing position.

"Get off my lift!" I yell, swinging my flashlight at it. It recoils, falling off the lift. I hear it's screams echoing up as it drops, lower and lower.

The lift arrives at the top floor.

I understand Kate's letters now. Something is inside her head, and that something has been following her since she was eight years old. It's been tearing apart her mind ever since she moved back here. And I must find CR.

I can see the word in drumbeats now. The word that repeats over and over again when He is near. The noise that will forever haunt my nightmares. The word that means only one thing for those who hear it.

 _Doom. Doom. Doom._


	4. Flashback

004: Flashback

The door yields to my gentle but firm push. It creaks open ominously, and red light shafts cut into the upper mineshaft that I am standing in.

How long was I down there?

I walked into the main mine at ten AM. I walked out at about five PM.

I walk out into the light, squinting. The ground is soft, but not to soft, and it feels wonderful after spending so many hours down in the mine. The air is crisp and clean, the smell of fall… but it's not fall.

I see the tower, but it's not that far away now. So, I set out towards it. Not a difficult trek at all, uphill but not very steep. Sometimes, as the sky slowly gets darker, I think I can see Him on one of the distant hills, watching. But then I blink, and He's gone.

Eventually, I'm walking on the side of the hill when I see a teddy bear leaning against a tree. It's large teddy bear.

 _Now, why is there a teddy bear up here?_ I think to myself. I reach out to grab it- and then my brain slammed into the back of my skull. I feel the pressure of something pushing me out of my body, and everything goes white.

* * *

I'm standing on a beach next to a large rock, surrounded by toys. There is a bucket, a shovel, and that same bear. I seem to be shorter, much shorter, and far younger.

"Charlie!" a young woman's voice called. "It's time for lunch."

I deduce that I'm Charlie, and I expect to turn around and go towards… my mother? Aunt? Sister?

But Charlie doesn't turn around and go home. Instead, he turns to the side, and sees a small toy. He starts to walk towards the toy, and picks it up.

"Charlie!" the woman yells again.

Charlie continues walking, and sees another toy. Once again, the intrigued boy reaches down and grabs the toy.

Mentally, I urge Charlie to stop picking up the toys, to return to his mother, because in the world where He walks, this cannot be safe.

But Charlie doesn't stop. He follows a trail of toys to the woods, and I know who it is. It's Charlie Matheson Jr, and he's walking towards his doom.

He clambers over a rock, falling hard, about seven feet. His father is calling out now too, and his parents are screaming frantically. Charlie is whimpering now. Scared. My heart reaches out to him.

There is a thick mist, a heavy mist all around. The sounds from the frantic parents are muffled, now sounding like quiet calls. And then it begins.

 _Doom. Doom. Doom._

And I see the dark limbs lying across a rock. Unmoving. Charlie turns to run, but there are more, just behind. And then the ones in front are moving, and the ones behind are too, and Charlie is yelling now, and his parents are getting louder, they're getting closer. Maybe the story doesn't end the way I think it does.

Then, one of the tentacles catches Charlie around the waist, and it's the coldest thing I've ever felt, and more come, wrapping around, forming a cocoon, and the last thing I here is a final call of "CHARLIE!" from the father, before I feel like I'm being forced back out of something. Pressure makes my ears pop, and I am flung back into my own body.

That's when I am filled with a gritty determination. A determination that the monster who took Charlie Matheson, the one who took Kate, the one who took countless other innocent souls, will not get the one hope to stopping him. He will not get Carl Ross.

* * *

The slope keeps going, until it drops into a shallow cave. The cave is almost a small tunnel, how uncavelike it is. I walk through the uncavelike cave, and in the middle of the cave is a table. On the table are two VCR tapes. I don't know how they got there, but for some reason, I feel that I need to pick them up. So I do.

Nothing happens. I stick them in my pockets. Probably important.

At the end of the tunnel-like cave (or cave-like tunnel) there is a door. A door, in the cave.

 _Now, why is there a door in the cave?_ I ask myself. So I open the door. Naturally.

Inside, there is a TV. Plugged into a VCR. Like it was put there for me. In front of the TV is a chair. So I decide that since they tapes are probably important, I insert the first one into the VCR player.

The TV screen goes to static- briefly- and I wonder if He is near. But then, the screen plays footage from a VCR camera, recording what appears to be a large farm on a cloudy day. Then, the familiar, raspy voice of CR speaks up;

"My name is CR, and I'm at the Matheson Homestead now. I think that their youngest son, Charlie Matheson JR, might have seen something he wasn't supposed to see."

Well, you certainly got _that_ right.

CR set off towards the barn, and now I recognize it: it's the burnt-down barn that I encountered the missing boy, Charlie Matheson JR, who has become something that no human was ever meant to be. And now I know what will happen to CR at the Matheson Homestead.

The entrance to the barn is locked, however, by an electric lock. Which is hooked to a gas powered generator. Which is low on gas. CR mutters something under his breath, something to the effect of "Gotta find gas."

CR walked through the cornfield towards a shed, opening it. The dark shed was full of the familiar scribbled drawings of Him, but this time they aren't Kate's. They must be Charlie's.

"What-" CR murmured. He reached for one of the pictures and pulled if from the wall. He looked at it for a moment, before dropping it on the ground. He then descended down a small staircase, into a cellar.

 _Now, why would he go in the cellar?_ I ask myself. Then I realize, _Duh, he's looking for gas._

The cellar isn't so much a _cellar_ as it is a _maze._ It's a crisscrossing mad collection of hallways with flickering lights and stuff. CR is slowly thumping through the cellar, but there are strange sounds echoing about. CR's camera is shaking… he's very, very afraid.

Then another sound, and CR has found the gas. The scrabbling is getting louder, and louder, and now CR is running, and he's running through the cellar, turning and flying, and he's shouting, and I don't see what he's running from, but I know what it is. It's the boy from the barn, it's Charlie.

And there're the stairs. And CR is flying up the stairs at top speed, bursting from the shed, out into the bright summer evening. He turns his camera backwards, to record the scabbed and rotten, perverted version of Charlie coming after him.

And I'm praying silently. Praying that the man I hated for almost my whole life would escape unscathed from Him, or His servant, because I know in my heart that CR knows how to end this.

Running from the proxy. I understand how he feels. Running from Him is pure terror and despair. Running from a proxy… is a different beast altogether. You don't know what happens of He gets you. If a proxy gets you, it's likely that the last thing you'll ever see are sharp claws and teeth. And I know that if Charlie catches CR, he'll be dead.

But slowly, it becomes apparent that CR has given Charlie the slip. I sigh in relief, knowing that CR has escaped… for now.

The next bit of his footage is slightly boring, but strangely interesting. He pours the gas into the generator and turns it on, unlocking the door. He walks into the barn, and grabs a large key. He walks out to the field, walking along but keeping low. He can see Charlie wandering around, so he remains very careful.

He works his way towards a large chapel, and unlocks the gate. He walks through the gate and pushes open the door to the chapel.

The chapel is possibly the eeriest place I have ever seen, even on camera. It's simply silent and dark, and the sky through the stained glass casts a blue light over the whole place. CR reaches down and picks up a journal that was lying on a desk. He opens it and begins reading in his head. The camera isn't aimed at the book, so I have no idea what it says.

And then his camera is glitching; CR drops the book and turns.

There He is. Standing right next to CR, looming over him in the doorway, and I know that CR is gone. He must be gone. Any time He is that close to someone, that person is dead.

But CR isn't dead, and He is gone. CR is panting hard in fear, but he's safe. How did he do that? Why did He leave CR, when he could've killed him?

CR walks to the front of the Chapel, at the stage thing (what do you call a stage at a chapel?). He picks up a small toy lying on the floor, and as soon as he lifts it, I hear a scream.

CR turns, and there's Charlie, running at him. And the tape ends.

* * *

Is he alive?

There's no way to tell. The tape might've died because He was near, or because the tape wasn't long enough. Or Charlie broke the camera. There's no way to tell. I remove the first tape and put in the other one.

Briefly, again there is static, then I see the camera pointing at Kate. Wait, hold on, pointing at _Kate._

She's sitting in her room, the room where I first saw Him on the hill top. She's drawing a picture, but she immediately stops when her camera glitches once.

"He's here!" she says frantically. She picks up the camera and starts wandering around, shutting doors and windows. However, it is too late.

When she is in the living room, he appears in the doorway, and Kate shrieks. I understand her feeling: when He caught me in the forest, the feeling of despair that crept over me. Because I knew that there was no escape. But then there was. How?

Kate runs, but there's no outrunning Him for long. He's following, I can tell by the static on her camera. She reaches her room, leaping out the window, and then the camera goes to static.

Kate did not escape. My mission is gone.

I failed her.


	5. Genesis

005: Genesis

I wonder what the mortality rate of people who come face to face with Him is.

Somehow, I feel like I've done better than most people. I stood within five feet of Him twice, and I made it out alive. CR stood quite literally on His feet, and he didn't seem too fussed.

Somehow, the knowledge that Kate is dead doesn't cause me to give up or to leave. That might be because I know that going back would take me through that mine again. Or it might be that I want Him finished. And CR is the only person who might be able to do just that.

So I steel my resolve and open the door. And I walk the final few feet to the opposite cave entrance. And I step into hell.

* * *

The world is burning.

Everywhere around me is fire, hot fire. Fire that is burning away the forest on the summit of the hill. And I can see the radio tower now, I can see it's metal skeleton and a door under it, leading into the cliff.

Somehow, I know that this fire isn't natural.

And there it is again, the proof of my previous statement: _doom, doom, doom._

He is here. I must pass this fire. So I set out across the inferno.

CR and I had an argument, a long, long time ago. We argued about Kate, argued about their hallucination. I said that CR was just taking advantage of her. He said that I was selfish and that I just wanted Kate for myself. I always feared that, maybe, he was right all along.

Now I know he was. I was truly mistaken about him.

I run, determined to reach that door before I die. It's a straight shot across the field, probably only about a hundred yards. I can sprint a hundred yards.

However, my plan is foiled at twenty-five. A falling tree, covered in red-hot flames, falls across my path. Somehow, I feel that it's not a coincidence that the tree fell where it did.

So I turn to go around the tree, before I see Him, standing on the other side of the tree. The tentacles that I saw in the mine are racing over the tree, around the tree, under the tree. I feel sick: my nose is bleeding.

I think that the argument we had was when I realized how much I hated CR. I didn't hate him for being a bad person. I hated him for being right about me. Because I know it myself. My biggest flaw is that I cannot share my friends. That I'm greedy, and that I want them only for myself.

CR knew it, too. We were the two people who were wise enough to know it. And I hate him for it.

He is not going to let me escape this time. I know it, and even as I look for a way around His loving embrace, I realize what I've always known: no matter how fast I run, He's always faster than me. No matter how much I struggle, He's always stronger than me. No matter how much I hope, His despair falls over me like a blanket. Not a nice blanket.

At this point, it's only the back of my brain that is keeping me running. And my survival instinct is guiding my path. Adrenaline coursing through my veins, I run straight at Him.

As I get closer and closer, the air becomes bitingly cold. My mind is empty of emotions, only cold. And yet I keep running at adrenaline-induced speed, over the log across the field towards Him. His tentacles cannot touch me now.

My nose is bleeding more and more, and slowly I can feel my mind slackening. My surroundings are colorless, only shades of grade. There are no more noises, only a ringing sound in my ears, and whispers. Enticing whispers, saying things. Telling me to give up. To give in. And it sounds so lovely, to stop running, to let Him take me in. The voices say I'll be safe. It won't be cold anymore.

My feet start to drag. I'm slowing down.

And then, there are new voices. Voices I know, much less foreign. The voices of the people I love and need.

 _Be brave, it's the only way to defeat him,_ I hear Kate whispering.

 _Come home to us, we need you more than ever,_ says Jaden.

And I'm speeding up. I'm running again. My eyes are shut tight, so I can't see the thing I'm running towards.

 _There you go, I always knew I could count on you,_ Liam calls.

I don't feel cold anymore.

 _Come find me, Lauren,_ CR calls. _I'm the only one who can end it._

The ringing stops. I can hear the birds chirping.

I open my eyes. He is gone. The fire is gone. The forest around me is intact, as if the fire never happened. And the radio tower is still standing there, bold as brass, only a few yards in front of me.

I take a deep, shuddering breath. CR is in the tower. I must go in.

* * *

The door slowly swings open, and a shaft of light from outside bathes the inside of the space under the tower with light.

It's a short tunnel, a tunnel plated in metal. It ends with a wall. Sitting up against the wall is a burnt-up corpse. Oh no.

Oh, God no.

I walk towards it. It can't be CR. He can't be dead.

I kneel down next to it. That's when I notice the tape player next to him. I pick it up. I push the button. I listen.

It's CR talking. CR is crying. I can tell he's been yelling, because his voice is even raspier than usual.

"I'm sorry, Kate. There's only one way. He will always follow you."

Kate replies. She sounds anguished.

"I didn't know! What can I do?"

A pause. Then CR replies.

"He comes to punish a single person who committed a terrible sin. Then, He targets that person's family. Once He picks his target, He will forever plague their families and anyone who stumbles across Him. This is His Arrival, and He will never leave. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too."

The next sound that comes out of the tape recorder is a sound I will never forget. An anguished, drawn out scream of pain and terror that communicates more than human feeling. It's a cry of complete despair, despair so complete and full that it brings me to tears. It continues, and it echoes throughout the enclosed space, and I'm curled in a ball on the floor, because I know it now, there is no more CR, he's gone, and so is everyone else that comes across Him, we're all on a metaphorical Death Row, corpses waiting to happen, and I've never known it to be true before, and that is why I cry, because there's no stopping Him, He will continue to follow us pathetic humans, to reap the sinners from the saints and to take a few saints with him, too. There's no escape.

The tape shuts off. And then I realize what I've done.

The noise I created has called Him to me.

 _BANG BANG BANG._ I sit up. The sound came from the door.

 _BANG BANG BANG._ The door flies open, and it's not Him, it's Charlie. I shriek in fear and move to run, but it's too late. Charlie grabs me and, with strength never seen before, lifts me from the ground and slams me into the wall. Then it's dark.

* * *

Night time again.

I'm somewhere unfamiliar. Somewhere dark. Somewhere dangerous.

I'm laying on hardwood. I smell rotting hay and more wood… and blood. From my nose.

There is a dull throbbing in the back of my head, where I hit the wall. I groan, roll over, and open my eyes.

I'm in the barn, the Matheson family barn, the one that burnt down. This is where Charlie has brought me. Probably to burn me up like he burned CR.

Now I'm standing, but I feel woozy. I look around and discover that I'm in the loft. On the wall, someone has drawn words in white paint.

 _Come, join me, Lauren._

 _Step into His loving embrace._

 _All your pain will end._

 _You can experience the bliss of simple obedience._

I wipe my finger on the words. My blood mingles with the paint. The _fresh_ paint.

My flashlight is dead. My camera is almost dead. I'm nearly as blind as a bat. I stumble down the stairs, to the bottom of the barn.

And then I see it. The Chaser, with it's white hoodie, black jeans, and strange, moaning sound. And it's hood is off. I can see it's face.

My best friend, Kate. Her face is mottled with specks of grey. Her nose is bleeding just like mine, and flecks of blood dot her countenance. Her hair has lost it's previous sleekness, and is stringy and greasy, now. I understand now. She drew the words on the wall, not Charlie.

"Kate," I whisper. "It's me, Lauren."

Kate is creeping towards me, while I walk backwards.

"Kate, I can help you!" My voice is a whimper now. "Just, don't kill me."

Kate seems to relish the idea of killing me. She snarls, and leaps at me with a vengeance.

I've lost track of how many times His proxies have leapt at me. First, Charlie in the barn. Then, Kate on the elevator. Charlie under the tower. Now, Kate in the barn. All I know is that every time they jump at me, I leap backward to defend myself. This time, though, I will counterattack.

I run straight forward, and we lock together in a battle embrace, pushing each other. I'm straining as hard as I can, pushing against Kate's outstretched arms. Kate can't kick, she can't punch. So she opens her mouth, to reveal sharpened teeth. My hands go to her head to hold it back, which allows her hands to have free reign. I wait for the punch that never comes.

Kate stiffens, then she falls backwards to the floor, unconscious. I look up, to see Liam standing with a baseball bat. Jaden is standing just behind them.

"Um, hi," Liam says awkwardly.

"How did you find me?" I ask.

"You know, it was actually really easy," Jaden replies.

Liam is looking from me to Kate, confusedly.

"What happened?" Liam asks.

"It's a long story," I reply. Then, I feel a rush of joy. My family is here.

"I wanna go home," I whisper.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Slightly abrupt ending to The Arrival. For anyone who didn't understand what happened, Kate was a proxy of Him (a proxy is someone who is under the control of Him, in this scenario). Kate tried to kill Lauren, before she was saved by her husband Liam and her stepson Jaden.**

 **This story is woefully incomplete, but it definitely includes the entire story I intended. I have a sequel planned that will tie up loose ends left by this story, called The Rising. What really happened to CR? Will Kate ever be her old self? And, most importantly, how will they end His Arrival?**

 **All that and more in The Rising, which should be done… eventually.**


End file.
